Bicycle pedal with integrated security system

Abstract

A locking bicycle pedal includes a ratcheting coiled cable with a male locking plug that mates with a female locking port. A lock, such as a resettable combination lock, secures and releases a catch that secures and releases the plug in the port. When locked in the port, the plug depresses a plunger which constrains a pawl that engages teeth of a toothed wheel of the spool. An optional tracker wirelessly emits GPS location data if a theft is detected.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A bicycle pedal comprising:
 a pedal body providing a surface against which a user's foot may exert a force, a first side of the pedal body, and a second side of the pedal body opposite the first side of the pedal body; 
 a threaded spindle rotatably coupled to the pedal body, the pedal body being rotatable relative to the spindle about an axis extending through the spindle, the spindle being configured for threaded engagement of a crank arm of a bicycle; 
 a sole spool and axle, said sole spool and axle being concentric, and said sole spool being rotatable about said axle, and said axle being generally perpendicular to the surface of the pedal body against which a user's foot may exert a force and being generally perpendicular to the axis extending through the spindle; 
 a security cable wound on the sole spool, the security cable having a first free end with a male locking plug; 
 a female locking port fixed in the pedal body, said female locking port being sized to receive the male locking plug; and 
 a catch in the female locking port, the catch being movable from a locked position to an unlocked position, and 
 a lock operably coupled to the catch, said lock being user configurable to a locked state and to an unlocked state, and said lock preventing movement of the catch from the locked position to the unlocked position when the lock is in the locked state, said lock comprising a combination lock, said combination lock comprising three rotating discs, each rotating disc including a central aperture and notch, and a toothed locking pin having three teeth, and the rotating discs being rotatable about the toothed locking pin when the teeth of the locking pin are not within the notches of the discs, said pedal body including a window, and said combination lock being accessible through said window. 
 
     
     
       2. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 1 , said sole spool including a toothed disc having a plurality of peripheral teeth, and said pedal further comprising a pivoting pawl, said pawl controllably engaging peripheral teeth of the toothed disc as the sole spool rotates about the axle. 
     
     
       3. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 2 , said pawl being constrained from pivoting when the male plug is inserted in the female locking port, and, when said pawl is constrained, said pawl preventing rotation of the sole spool in a direction that would permit withdrawal of the security cable wound on the sole spool. 
     
     
       4. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 3 , further comprising a spring biased plunger having a first end in the female locking port, and said plunger being depressed by the male plug when the male plug is inserted in the female locking port, and said plunger having a second end opposite the first end, and said second end being operable to constrain the pawl from pivoting when the plunger is depressed by the male plug when the male plug is inserted in the female locking port. 
     
     
       5. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 4 , further comprising a spring biased yoke linearly moveable from a first position to a second position, and said yoke being linked to said pawl, and said yoke including a first contact surface and a second contact surface, the first contact surface being separate and apart from the second contact surface, and the first contact surface being in alignment with and adjacent to said second end of said plunger, and said second end of said plunger contacting the first contact surface and urging the spring biased yoke linearly from the first position to the second position when the plunger is depressed by the male plug when the male plug is inserted in the female locking port, and said yoke constraining the pawl when the yoke is urged into the second position, and said second contact surface engaging a release button, said release button being moveable to urge the spring biased yoke linearly from the second position to the first position when the plunger is not depressed by the male plug when the male plug is not inserted in the female locking port, and said yoke releasing the pawl to pivot when the yoke is urged into the first position, the release button extending from the first side of the pedal body, and the female locking port being fixed in the second side of the pedal body. 
     
     
       6. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , further comprising a catch release operably coupled to the catch, and urging the catch into an unlocked position when the catch release is actuated and the lock is in the unlocked state. 
     
     
       7. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 6 , said catch release comprising a catch release button actuated by pressing. 
     
     
       8. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , the toothed locking pin being linearly movable from a locking position to an unlocking position, and said pedal further comprising a catch release operably coupled to the locking pin and said locking pin being operably coupled to the catch, and said catch release urging the toothed locking pin into an unlocking position and the catch into an unlocked position when the catch release is actuated and the lock is in the unlocked state. 
     
     
       9. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 8 , said catch release comprising a catch release button actuated by pressing. 
     
     
       10. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , further comprising a lock reset operably coupled to the toothed locking pin and urging the toothed locking pin into a position whereby each tooth of the toothed locking pin is positioned in a notch of each disc when the lock reset is actuated, and each disc further comprising an outer ring that is rotatable relative to the central aperture of each disc and defining a combination for the combination lock, said combination corresponding to an arrangement of the discs in an unlocked state. 
     
     
       11. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 10 , said lock reset comprising a lock reset button actuated by pressing. 
     
     
       12. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , said plug comprising a shaft, a head, and a neck extending between the shaft and head, said shaft having a shaft width, and said neck having a neck width, and said head, having a head width, and said neck width being less than the head width and less than the shaft width. 
     
     
       13. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 12 , said head including a free end having a surface shape from the group consisting of a wedge-shaped surface, a conical shaped surface, a frustoconical shaped surface, and an ellipsoid shaped surface, said free end contacting the catch during insertion of the plug in the female port. 
     
     
       14. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , further comprising a tracker comprising a GPS receiver, a microcontroller operably coupled to the GPS receiver, a transmitter operably coupled to the microcontroller, an accelerometer operably coupled to the microcontroller, and a power supply operably coupled to the microcontroller. 
     
     
       15. The bicycle pedal according to  claim 5 , further comprising a switch operably coupled to the lock and detecting if the lock is in a locked state.